What PSA software actually costs

    Published list prices compared, the pricing models that change the total, and cost per consultant per year. Figures taken from vendors' own pricing pages, not from third-party estimates.

    Why the cost is so hard to find out

    PSA is one of the least transparent categories in business software. Not out of bad faith: the price depends on variables vendors would rather discuss on a call.

    • Vendors who publish no list at all and quote only after a discovery call
    • Per-user pricing that hides seat minimums not stated prominently
    • Modules sold separately: resource management, BI, connectors, e-signature
    • One-off implementation fees that can exceed a full year of licences
    • Usage-based models that grow with invoices and projects — that is, with your revenue
    • Comparison sites carrying stale rates, or rates the vendor never confirmed

    How to compare properly

    The only number that matters is all-in annual cost per consultant. You get there by adding licences, minimums, modules, implementation and usage fees, then dividing by the people you actually have.

    • «What does hice.ai cost for 40 consultants and 5 managers?» → €351 a month, calculable without calling anyone
    • «What happens to the bill if I hire 10 consultants?» → +€29 a month, because consultants are BASIC users
    • «How much are the setup costs?» → guided onboarding included, no implementation fee
    • «Can I start without paying?» → yes, free up to 10 employees and 5,000 CVs, no card
    Try it in chat

    Examples you can ask:

    Static demo of hice's AI chat.

    What you get

    Published list price

    €49.90 per MAIN user per month and €2.90 per BASIC user. Written on the pricing page, not in a quote.

    No seat minimum

    You pay for the people you have. No five- or ten-user floor, as is common in this category.

    No usage fees

    Invoices, projects, clients and tasks are not metered. The bill does not grow when your revenue does.

    Every module included

    CRM, ATS, projects, timesheets, expenses, KPIs and AI at the same price. No add-ons to negotiate.

    No implementation cost

    Onboarding is guided and included. There is no one-off to budget for.

    A real free plan

    Up to 10 employees and 5,000 CVs, with no card and no expiry.

    Regional pricing

    Separate published lists for Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

    No annual lock-in

    Cancel from the platform, and export your data in standard formats.

    The market's published prices, verified at source

    These are the prices vendors publish on their own pages, verified on 20 August 2026. They are the only honest starting point: comparison sites frequently carry stale figures or rates the vendor never confirmed, and in at least one case in five they contradict the vendor outright.

    Read it knowing that the unit of measurement changes from product to product. Some count every user identically, some separate the people who run the firm from the people who only log time, and some add meters on the volume of work you do.

    • BoondManager: €59 (Core), €79 (Advanced) or €99 (Enterprise) per manager per month, plus €4 per consultant per month
    • Scoro: $19.90 to $49.90 per user per month billed annually, with a five-seat minimum on every package
    • Harvest: $9 to $14 per seat per month billed annually, plus usage fees on invoices, projects, clients and tasks
    • Accelo: no published list, quoted per team size
    • hice.ai: €49.90 per MAIN user and €2.90 per BASIC user per month, free up to 10 employees

    Cost per consultant per year, which is the metric that counts

    A per-user price tells you nothing until you relate it to the shape of your firm. A typical consulting firm has one manager for every six to eight consultants: if the vendor charges everyone the same, you are paying full price for people who open the software twice a month to file a timesheet.

    Take a firm with 40 consultants and 5 managers, 45 people in total. On a flat $30 per-user model that is $1,350 a month. On hice.ai's two-tier model it is 5 × 49.90 + 35 × 2.90 = €351 a month. Per consultant per year: roughly €105 against roughly $405.

    Run the arithmetic on your own numbers before deciding anything. If your firm is mostly managers the gap closes; if it is mostly consultants it widens, and that describes most consulting, engineering and staffing firms.

    The line items that never appear on the price list

    List price is rarely the final price. The three items that move a three-year total the most are implementation, separately sold modules, and seat minimums.

    Implementing a classic enterprise PSA is measured in tens of thousands and in months, often with an outside partner. Separately sold modules — advanced resource management, business intelligence, CRM connectors — can double the per-user cost against the base plan. Seat minimums make you pay for people who do not exist.

    Always ask three things in writing before you sign: the total three-year cost at your real headcount, what happens to the price if you grow 30%, and which features shown in the demo sit behind a separate module.

    IT consulting firm, 45 people

    They were comparing three quotes that were not comparable: one per user with a five-seat minimum, one per manager plus a per-consultant fee, and one available only on request. Reduced to all-in annual cost per consultant, the spread between the cheapest and the dearest was 3.8×, and the quote that looked lowest turned out to be the second most expensive once the modules were added.

    The category's pricing models side by side

    Featurehice.aiFlat per-user model
    Unit of measurementMAIN and BASIC users priced separatelyEvery user at the same price
    Cost of a consultant who only logs time€2.90 a monthFull price
    Seat minimumNoneOften five or ten
    Separately sold modulesNone, everything includedCommon: BI, resource management, connectors
    Implementation feeNoneThousands to tens of thousands
    Usage metersNoneIncreasingly common in the category
    Published priceYesVaries, often quote-only

    FAQ

    What does PSA software typically cost?+

    It depends on the model more than on the vendor. The market runs from around $9 per seat per month for a time tracker with usage fees, up to €99 per manager per month plus a per-consultant fee for a full vertical ERP. The comparison only makes sense once everything is reduced to annual cost per consultant.

    What does hice.ai cost?+

    €49.90 per MAIN user per month and €2.90 per BASIC user, with separate published lists by region. Free up to 10 employees and 5,000 CVs, no card.

    Why two user tiers instead of one?+

    Because in a consulting firm people do not use the software the same way. The people who run it are in it all day; consultants log time and expenses. Charging both the same is convenient for the vendor, not for you.

    Are there implementation costs?+

    No. Onboarding is guided and included in the price. It is one of the line items that most often doubles first-year cost in classic PSA purchases.

    Does the price grow with the number of projects or invoices?+

    No. Volume of work is not metered. That is a meaningful difference from the usage-based models spreading through the category.

    Is an annual commitment required?+

    No. Cancel from the platform at any time and export your data in standard formats.

    How do I compare quotes that are not comparable?+

    Reduce them all to the same metric: total annual cost divided by number of consultants, including licences, minimums, modules, implementation and usage fees, calculated on your real headcount rather than the vendor's example.

    Can I try before paying?+

    Yes. The free plan covers up to 10 employees and 5,000 CVs with no expiry, which is enough to run a full monthly cycle on one team.

    Work out the cost for your firm

    The list price is published, so you can do the arithmetic now without booking a call. Then check it against a real month, free.

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